Method and device for conducting a poker game

ABSTRACT

The player is randomly dealt an initial poker hand, optionally of five cards, from a composite deck formed by commingling two or more subdecks of cards. The player decides which of the initial cards to discard, if any, retaining the remaining cards from the dealt hand. The player receives replacement cards to replace the discarded cards. The player&#39;s final poker hand consists of the player&#39;s retained cards and the dealt replacement cards. The dealer evaluates the poker hand so reconstituted against a prespecified payoff table, and the player loses the game wager or receives a reward, as indicated in that payoff table. The payoff table determines the reward for a final hand based on the combination of suit, value, and source subdeck of the cards comprising that final hand.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This utility application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/018,526, titled “Super Royal Video Poker,” filed Dec. 21, 2004 by applicant herein and issued on Feb. 10, 2009 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,488,246.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to card games. Specifically, the present invention is a method and device for improved video poker game in which a player is dealt a hand from two or more distinct subdecks of playing cards, commingled together, which is resolved against a prespecified payoff table based, at least in part, on the source deck of cards as well as their suit and value.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The many variations of video poker have proven extremely popular with gamblers, and extremely popular for the casinos which offer them. One of the constant searches is for a method which allows for a higher potential player win, without greatly affecting the house profit. It is with this goal in mind that variations such as progressive jackpots have been implemented, as well as multi-hand games and reversible royals. Each of these provides a possible high jackpot for the player, but maintains the house advantage by reducing the payout for some of the lesser hands.

Most such games, however, do not allow for a jackpot paying much more than the 800-to-1 odds of the Royal Flush, at least not on an independent basis, i.e. other than the progressives. In addition, lowering the payouts on the lesser hands is often viewed negatively by players who have learned to expect the smaller payouts to keep them funded for more play. A way is needed to accomplish both.

Poker is essentially based on the two-dimensional nature of the playing card deck, with four suits and thirteen values. The deck may, in fact, be seen as a 4×13 matrix, and most poker hands may be seen as being based on the relationships between cards held in this matrix structure. For example, if we look at the matrix as being four columns wide, by thirteen rows, a flush is all five cards in a column, a straight is one card in each of five consecutive rows, a full house is three cards in one row and two in another, a royal flush is the top five cards in a column, etc.

By allowing video poker to deal cards from a superdeck created by commingling more than one visually distinct subdeck, and by determining winning hands and associated payouts where at least one such winning hand is distinguished from other hands based on the subdeck identifiers of the cards which create such winning hand, the super payout can be accomplished without loss of lower payouts. Using two subdecks decreases the probability of column hands, i.e. straights, flushes, straight flushes and royal flushes, while increasing that of “row” hands, hands based on multiple cards of equal value, three-of-a-kind, full house, four-of-a-kind, five-of-a-kind (which here becomes possible without wild cards), and even pairs. However, the changes to the row hands are not so great as to require more than minimal adjustment in the payoff tables, and the decreased potential of the column hands allows the addition of a jackpot for a super royal, a royal flush with all five cards being from the same deck. In the examples provided below, the super royal may pay at least ten-thousand-to-one, which is more than twelve times as much as the standard royal on other video poker machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a method for conducting a card game for one or more players. The present invention may be conducted at a physical gaming table using physical playing cards or an electronic gaming machine using electronic representations of playing cards.

The method includes providing a composite deck of playing cards including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another. The playing cards of each subdeck include a visually distinct subdeck identifier. For example, in one optional embodiment, each playing card includes a face identifying the suit and value of the playing card and a back and wherein the subdeck identifier includes a visually distinct design on the back of each playing card within the subdeck. Optionally, each subdeck is formed from at least a subset of a standard poker deck. It is contemplated that the subdeck may consist of a complete fifty-two card standard poker deck, a poker deck truncated by removing certain playing cards from a standard poker deck, a poker deck supplemented by adding certain playing cards (such as one or more jokers) to a standard poker deck, or any other constitution of playing cards. Optionally, one or more of the subdecks may include at least one wild card that may substitute for any playing card in the subdeck or, alternatively, the composite deck.

A payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs is defined. The payoff table includes at least one winning hand distinguished based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming the winning hand. For example, in one optional embodiment, the payoff table includes payoffs for winning hands in which all playing cards comprising the winning hand are from a single subdeck.

A game wager is received from each player. An initial hand of playing cards randomly selected from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in the composite deck is dealt to each player. In an optional embodiment, the player may select a subset of the composite deck from which the initial hand is dealt. In one such optional embodiment, the player may select the number and/or identity of subdecks in the composite deck from which the initial hand is dealt. The initial hand is dealt from the selected subset of the composite deck and the final hand is formed (as discussed in greater detail below) by dealing any additional or replacement cards, if any, from the selected subset of the composite deck. Optionally, the size of the game wager and/or the payoff table may vary depending on the selected subset of the composite deck.

The value, suit, and subdeck identifier of each card in the initial hand may be displayed or, in an optional embodiment, at least one of the value, suit, and subdeck identifier of at least one playing card may be concealed.

A final hand is formed for each player. In one optional embodiment, the final hand is formed by discarding and replacing one or more playing cards from the initial hand. For example, in one such optional embodiment, a selection is received from each player to discard zero or more playing cards from the initial hand. In one such example, each initial hand includes five playing cards and each player may select up to five playing cards for discard from the initial hand. A replacement playing card is dealt for each playing card selected for discard. Optionally, the replacement cards are dealt randomly from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in the composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards. In such an optional embodiment, the final hand may consist of the playing cards of the initial hand, excluding the cards selected for discard and including the replacement cards.

In an optional embodiment in which one or more of the value, suit, and subdeck identifier for one or more of the playing cards of the initial hand may be concealed, the value, suit, and subdeck identifier for the playing cards of the final hand may be revealed once the final hand is formed.

Each final hand is compared to the payoff table, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in the final hand to the subdeck identifiers for the winning hands in the payoff table. Each player having a winning hand is rewarded with the payoff associated with the winning hand in the payoff table. The game wager is collected or retained from each player not having a winning hand.

In an optional embodiment, the method may be conducted for a player at an electronic gaming machine. In one such optional embodiment, the electronic gaming machine includes a data processor in communication with a display, a player controller, and a data storage storing electronic representations of playing cards having a value and a suit. A composite deck of playing cards is stored at the data storage. As above, the composite deck includes a plurality of distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another in which the playing cards of each subdeck include a visually distinguishable subdeck identifier.

A payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs is defined. The payoff table is stored at the data storage. The payoff table includes at least one winning hand distinguished from other winning hands based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming the winning hand.

A signal is received at the data processor from the player controller representing a game wager by the player. In response to the game wager, the data processor deals an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected by the data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in the composite deck stored at the data storage. At least one of the value, rank, and subdeck identifier for at least one of the playing cards of the initial hand is displayed at the display.

A final player hand is formed for each player. In one optional embodiment, the final player hand is formed by receiving at the data processor a signal from the player controller representing the player's selection to discard zero or more playing cards from the player's initial hand. The data processor deals a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard. The replacement cards are selected randomly by the data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in the composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards. The final hand consists of the playing cards of the initial hand, excluding the cards selected for discard and including the replacement cards.

The data processor compares each player's final hand to the payoff table stored at the data storage. This comparison includes comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in the final hand to the subdeck identifiers for the winning hands in the payoff table. The data processor rewards each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with the winning hand in the payoff table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a layout of a gaming device for play of a card game before card replacement, according to an optional embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a layout of a gaming device for play of a card game after card replacement, according to an optional embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION

Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are referred to by like numerals throughout. The present invention includes a method and device for conducting a poker game. Referring generally to FIGS. 1-4, the present invention includes a electronic gaming machine 100 for conducting a poker game according to an optional embodiment of the present invention. A gaming machine 100 may include a display 110 and a player controller 150 visible on the exterior of the gaming machine 100 and a data processor 400 and a data storage 402 inside the gaming machine 100 to control the display 110, receive input from the player controller 150, and execute software, firmware, or the like to conduct the poker game. The data processor 400 may take any form, including any microprocessor executing programming instructions stored as software, firmware, or the like. Similarly, the data storage 402 may include any data storage including optical storage, magnetic storage, flash memory, or the like. The display 110 may take any form, including a video display or a mechanical display, and may communicate directly with the data processor 400 or indirectly via a display controller or the like. As illustrated in the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the player controller 150 may take the form of a button panel, but it is contemplated that the player controller 150 may include any type of input device, including a keyboard, keypad, mouse, pointer, touchscreen, or the like.

A display 110 may be controlled to display a payoff table field 120, fields showing the faces of cards (with FIG. 1 showing the faces 131-135 of cards before replacement, in an example described in greater detail below, and FIG. 2 showing an example of the faces 231-235 of cards after replacement, in an example described in greater detail below), fields showing the backs of cards (with FIG. 1 showing the backs 141-145 of cards before replacement, in an example described in greater detail below, and FIG. 2 showing an example of the backs 241-245 of cards after replacement, in an example described in greater detail below), a current wager field 121, a payout amount field 122 showing the payout for the hand just completed, a cash out field 123 showing the amount issued when a player cashes out, a credits available field 124 showing the amount of credits available for play, and a wager denomination or minimum wager field 125 showing the denomination for each wager unit or minimum wager amount for the game. In the optional embodiment illustrated, the fields displaying the faces of the cards 131-135, 231-235 may display the suit and value and may be separate from the fields displaying the backs of the cards 141-145, 241-245. In an alternate embodiment, the face and back may be combined into a single image which depicts the suit, value, and source subdeck of a card. In another alternate optional embodiment, the display of at least one of the suit, value, and backs of at least one of the cards 131-135, 141-145 may be deferred for at least a portion of the method of the invention.

The player controller 150 may include control buttons including a Hold or Discard button 161-165 corresponding to each card in the player hand, a Cashout request button 151, a Change, or call attendant, button 152, a Bet One button 153 to bet one or raise the game wager by one unit, a Bet Max button 154 to wager the maximum allowed for the machine, a Deal/Draw button 155 for the player to input selections of wager or hold/discard requests, a device to handle wagers such as a receiver 172 to receive a ticket, voucher, cash, magnetic card, or the like, and a device to issue payouts, such as a printer 171 to print cash out ticket vouchers for players desiring to cash out, a cash or coin dispenser (not shown), or the like.

Optional indicator lights 180 may have two lighted sections visible over the top of the gaming machine 100 and other, adjacent, devices. A lower lighted portion 182 may include a color-coded indicator of the wager denomination for the gaming machine 100. The upper lighted portion 181 may include a signal device responsive to a Change, or call attendant, button 152 indicating that the player requires assistance.

As alluded to above, in an optional embodiment a gaming machine 100 stores a register of stored wager credits. In one such optional embodiment, to commence a wagering session, or between hands during a wagering session, the player may increment the stored wager credits available for game wagers by inserting currency, a representation of currency (such as chips, vouchers, or the like), or credits transferred through another medium such as a ticket, through a receiver 172. Additionally or alternatively, game wagers may be made directly by the inserting currency or a representation of currency, or transferring credits from another medium such as a ticket, without first being stored in a credit register.

Referring generally to FIGS. 1-4, a player places 302 a game wager. In an optional embodiment, the game wager may be placed by actuating a Bet One button 153 or Bet Max button 154 to deduct a game wager from a register of stored wager credits. Optionally, the payoff table displayed in the payoff table field 120 may change to highlight potential payoffs for the game wager as the game wager amount changes. In the optional embodiment illustrated, the maximum bet is set to five times the wager denomination (nickel, quarter, dollar, etc.) although this may vary in alternate optional embodiments. In the optional embodiment illustrated, the wager denomination is preset for the gaming machine 100. In an alternate embodiment, the player may select the wager denomination prior to commencement of any hand. In an optional embodiment, the minimum wager is equal to one unit of the wager denomination, although it is contemplated that this may vary in alternate optional embodiments.

In an optional embodiment, the initial hand is dealt 304 in response to the receipt of the wager. Optionally, the initial hand is automatically dealt when the maximum wager is placed. When a wager less than the maximum wager is placed, the player may actuate a Deal/Draw button 155 to signal the gaming machine 100 to deal the initial hand using the selected wager amount. Optionally, the player may also use the Deal/Draw button 155 to signal the gaming machine to repeat the game wager placed on a previous hand. Optionally, the game wager is not permitted to exceed the amount displayed in the credits available field 124. Where the game wager is placed using stored credits, the amount of the game wager is subtracted from the credits available when the initial hand is dealt.

A initial hand of cards is dealt 304 to the player. Optionally, the data processor 400 of the gaming machine 100 randomly selects a hand of cards from a composite deck, or “superdeck,” of playing cards that is stored at a data storage 402. The composite deck is defined 300 to consist of multiple subdecks of playing cards, or electronic representations thereof, that have been commingled together. The playing cards of each subdeck include a visually distinct subdeck identifier so that the subdeck membership of each playing card can be determined visually. The subdecks may have any constitution. For example, the subdecks may consist of: a standard fifty-two poker deck, i.e. a deck consisting of four suits with thirteen cards per suit; a truncated deck formed by removing certain cards from a standard fifty-two card poker deck; a supplemented deck formed by adding certain cards to a standard fifty-two card poker deck; a modified deck formed by removing certain cards and adding other cards to a standard fifty-two card poker deck; or any other playing card set. Also, it is contemplated that the subdecks within a composite deck may be differently constituted. For example, in one optional embodiment, the composite deck may consist of two subdecks—(1) a standard fifty-two card poker deck plus (2) a truncated forty-card poker deck including only the cards ace through ten in four suits (also referred to as a Spanish deck). In this example, the composite deck includes ninety-two cards with duplicate numbered cards (with distinguishable subdeck identifiers) but only a single set of face cards from one of the subdecks.

With reference to the optional embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the composite deck from which cards are selected is defined 300 to consist of two subdecks commingled together. In this example, each subdeck consists of a standard fifty-two card poker deck and includes a visually distinguishable back design.

Optionally, at least a portion of the initial hand is displayed 306 to the player. In an embodiment conducted at a gaming machine 100, the initial hand may be completely or partially displayed at a display 110. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the faces 131-135 and backs 141-145 of the cards selected to the initial hand are displayed. In this example, the designs on the backs of the cards identify the subdeck of the card, so that in FIG. 1, the first card back 141, third card back 143, fourth card back 144, and fifth card back 145 are the same and, thus, these four cards are members of one subdeck, while the second card back 142 differs from the others and, thus, this card is a member of a different subdeck.

A final hand is formed 308. The final hand may be formed in any fashion. For example, in a stud poker game, the final hand may comprise the cards (or a subset of the cards) of the initial hand. For example, in a five-card stud poker game, the five cards of the final hand comprise the five cards of the initial hand. Similarly, in a seven-card stud poker game, the five cards of the final hand are selected from the seven cards dealt to the initial hand. In another example, one or more community cards may be utilized in forming the final hand. For example, in a Texas Hold'em poker game, the final hand may comprise the cards (or a subset of the cards) of the initial hand in combination with one or more community cards. In such an optional embodiment, a set of community cards may be randomly dealt, e.g. randomly selected by a data processor 400, from the composite deck depleted of the initial player hand or initial player hands. In yet another optional embodiment, replacement cards may be used in forming the final hand. For example, in a draw poker game, the final hand may be formed by discarding and replacing certain cards from the initial hand so that the final hand consists of the cards of the initial hand, excluding cards selected to be discarded and including replacement cards dealt.

The example of FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrates an optional embodiment in which the final hand is formed according to a draw poker procedure. In this optional embodiment, the face and backs of the playing cards of the initial hand are displayed to the player. As noted previously, some of this information may be concealed from the player in alternate optional embodiments. The player reviews the initial hand and determines cards to be discarded, and cards to be held, or retained. In an optional embodiment, the initial hand includes five playing cards, and the player may select zero, one, two, three, four, or five cards for discard, thereby retaining five, four, three, two, one, or zero cards, respectively. In the optional embodiment illustrated, players may select a card to be discarded or held by actuating Hold/Discard buttons 161-165. Optionally, a Hold/Discard button 161-165 is provided for each card and actuating the Hold/Discard button 161-165 toggles the input to the data processor 400 between holding the card and discarding the card. In the optional embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, each card includes a face and a back (even if separately displayed) so that discarding a card will result in the removal of both the face and back displayed. In the optional embodiment illustrated, a player submits the player's selections of which cards are to be held and which are to be discarded by actuating a Deal/Draw button 155. In the example of FIG. 1, a selection has been entered to hold the second, third, fourth, and fifth cards, which means that the first card has been selected to be discarded.

Optionally, the data processor 400 prompts the display 110 to remove the cards selected for discard from the display and replace the discarded cards with a replacement card. In such an optional embodiment, the data processor 400 may randomly select the replacement card from the composite deck of commingled subdecks that has been depleted of the cards previously dealt. The replacement cards are optionally displayed on the display 110 of the gaming machine 100, in locations vacated by the discarded cards. As shown in FIG. 2, the faces 231-235 and backs 241-245 of the cards in the final hand may be displayed. As may be appreciated, the final hand thus constituted will consist of the held cards and the replacement cards. In the example of FIG. 2, the first card is a replacement card while the second, third, fourth, and fifth cards were held from the initial hand.

The device compares 310 the final hand against a payoff table to determine the payoff, if any, for the final hand. Specifically, the final hand is compared to a predefined 314 payoff table listing the winning hands and the payoffs associated with the winning hands. Table 1 illustrates an example of a payoff table.

TABLE 1 Final Hand Payoff Value (to 1) Super Royal Flush 10,000 Super Straight Flush 1,000 Royal Flush 800 5-of-a-kind 90 Straight Flush 50 4-of-a-Kind 10 Full House 6 Flush 5 Straight 4 3-of-a-Kind 2 Two Pair 1 Jacks or Better 1 Losing Hand 0

In the example of Table 1, a “super” hand is a hand formed from cards entirely from a single subdeck. Thus, a super royal flush is a hand consisting of a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit from a single subdeck. By contrast, a royal flush is a hand consisting of a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit from mixed subdecks. Similarly, a super straight flush includes cards from a single subdeck whereas a straight flush includes cards from mixed subdecks. While Table 1 illustrates a payoff table for the optional embodiment illustrated, in alternate embodiments the payoff table could raise or lower individual hand value, change their order, or modify the list of hands to receive rewards. For example, although the example of Table 1 illustrates hands that are distinguished by cards in the hand that are members of a single subdeck, it is contemplated that certain hands may be distinguished by cards in the hand that are members of different subdecks. For example, a payoff table could include a payoff for a full house in which three of a kind is formed by cards from one subdeck and a pair that is formed by cards from another subdeck. As may be appreciated, any variety of winning hands could be included in a payoff table in which certain of the winning hands are distinguished based on the subdeck membership of the cards in the hand.

In the example of FIG. 2, the final hand is a straight flush. If the example payoff table of Table 1 were used in the example of FIG. 2, the player would be rewarded at 50 to 1 because the hand forms a straight flush, but the cards have mixed subdeck membership as shown by the display of the backs 241-245 of the cards. Specifically, the back 242 of the second card displays a different subdeck identifier than the backs 241, 243, 244, 245 of the first, third, fourth, and fifth cards. If, for example, the second card had the same subdeck membership of the first, third, fourth, and fifth cards, the straight flush would be considered a super straight flush and the player would have been rewarded at 1,000 to 1 according to the example of Table 1.

Referring again to FIGS. 1-4, if the final hand is a winning hand according to the payoff table, the payoff associated with the winning hand is issued 312 to the player. Optionally, the amount of the payoff is displayed in the payout amount field 122. Additionally, the payoff amount is added to the available credits and the updated amount of credits available is displayed in the credits available field 124.

Between play of hands, the player may commence the next hand as previously described, add wager credits as previously described, or terminate the gaming session by “cashing out” remaining wager credits, if any. In the optional embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the player actuates a Cashout button 151 to signal the data processor 400 to dispense any remaining credits to the player. The credits may be issued in any form, including coin, currency, voucher, ticket, or the like. In the optional embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, any remaining wager credits may be dispensed to the player by issuing a readable ticket through the ticket printer 171. As may be appreciated, tickets so printed may be redeemed by the game operator or may be read by another gaming machine.

As suggested above, in an alternate optional embodiment, at least one of the displays of suit, value and source subdeck may be concealed and not shown in the faces 131-135 or backs 141-145 of the cards in the initial hand and/or the final hand. In one such optional embodiment, for example, the subdeck identifier for one or more of the cards in the initial hand may be concealed on the display 110 and revealed when the final hand is formed. In such an optional embodiment, the subdeck information would not necessarily be useful to the player in making decisions, if any, to form the final hand and any additional payoff awarded as a result of the previously-concealed subdeck identifiers may be viewed by the player as a bonus award.

In another alternate optional embodiment, prior to commencing the play of a hand, the player may opt to select the source decks to commingle in forming the composite deck of playing cards. Or, put another way, the player may select a subset of a composite deck for use in a particular game so that any cards outside the selected subset would not be included in the player's initial or final hands. For example, in an optional embodiment including three subdecks (a blue subdeck, a green subdeck, and a yellow subdeck), a player may be permitted to select among several different subsets of the composite deck for use in the player's game. For example, a player may be permitted to select from among: composite deck A containing only playing cards from the blue subdeck; composite deck B commingling playing cards from the blue subdeck and the green subdeck; and composite deck C commingling playing cards from the blue, green, and yellow subdecks. Optionally, the player may select the deck composition when the game wager is placed. In a further optional embodiment, the selection may be based, at least in part, on the amount of the player's wager. For example, in an optional embodiment, the minimum and maximum wagers may vary depending on the composite deck selected so that certain composite decks may be unavailable at lower wager levels.

Due to the different compositions of each subset of the composite deck, and consequently the difference in the probabilities of the several defined winning final hands, a different payoff table could be associated with each composition. For example, as shown in Table 2, selection of composite deck A may be associated with payoff table A, composite deck B may be associated with payoff table B, and composite deck C may be associated with payoff table C.

TABLE 2 Payoff Value (to 1) Final Hand Payoff Table A Payoff Table B Payoff Table C Super Royal Flush N/A 10,000 50,000 Super Straight Flush N/A 1,000 5,000 Royal Flush 800 800 800 5-of-a-kind N/A 90 90 Straight Flush 50 50 50 4-of-a-kind 25 10 10 Full House 9 6 6 Flush 6 5 5 Straight 4 4 4 3-of-a-kind 3 2 2 Two Pair 2 1 1 Jacks or Better 1 1 1 Losing Hand 0 0 0

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described it is to be understood that the present invention is subject to many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims presented herein. 

1. A method for conducting a card game for one or more players using playing cards, or electronic representations thereof, comprising: providing a composite deck of playing cards including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinct subdeck identifier, each subdeck formed from at least a subset of a standard poker deck; defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand; receiving a game wager from each player; dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected from said commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said composite deck; for at least one playing card of said initial hand, concealing at least one of the value, suit, and subdeck identifier of said at least one playing card; receiving from each player a selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said initial hand; dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards dealt randomly from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards; forming a final hand for each player, said final hand consisting of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards; following said dealing of replacement playing cards for each playing card selected for discard, revealing the value, suit, and subdeck identifier for all cards comprising said final hand; comparing each final hand to said payoff table, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein each playing card includes a face identifying the suit and value of the playing card and a back and wherein said subdeck identifier includes a visually distinct design on the back of each playing card comprising said subdeck.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein each subdeck includes a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein each subdeck includes a standard poker deck of fifty-two playing cards, supplemented with at least one joker.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein each initial hand includes five playing cards and each player may select up to five playing cards for discard from the initial hand.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said payoff table includes payoffs for winning hands in which all playing cards comprising said winning hand are from a single subdeck.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein each subdeck includes at least one wild card, wherein said wild card may substitute for any playing card in said composite deck.
 8. A method for conducting a card game for one or more players using playing cards, or electronic representations thereof, comprising: providing a composite deck of playing cards including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinct subdeck identifier, each subdeck formed from at least a subset of a standard poker deck; defining at least one subset of said composite deck of playing cards, each subset including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another; for each subset of said composite deck of playing cards, defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand; receiving a game wager from each player; receiving from at least one player a selection of a subset of said composite deck of playing cards; dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said selected subset; receiving from each player a selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said initial hand; dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards dealt randomly from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said selected subset depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards; forming a final hand for each player, said final hand consisting of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards; comparing each final hand to said payoff table associated with said selected subset, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein each playing card includes a face identifying the suit and value of the playing card and a back and wherein said subdeck identifier includes a visually distinct design on the back of each playing card comprising said subdeck.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein each subdeck includes a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein each subdeck includes a standard poker deck of fifty-two playing cards, supplemented with at least one joker.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein each initial hand includes five playing cards and each player may select up to five playing cards for discard from the initial hand.
 13. The method of claim 8 wherein said payoff table includes payoffs for winning hands in which all playing cards comprising said winning hand are from a single subdeck.
 14. The method of claim 8 wherein each subdeck includes at least one wild card, wherein said wild card may substitute for any playing card in said composite deck.
 15. The method of claim 8 wherein said selection of a subset of said composite deck of playing cards includes a selection of said game wager.
 16. A method for conducting a card game for a player at an electronic gaming machine including a data processor in communication with a display, a player controller, and a data storage storing electronic representations of playing cards having a value and a suit, comprising: storing a composite deck of playing cards at said data storage, said composite deck including a plurality of distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinguishable subdeck identifier; defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs and storing said payoff table at said data storage, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished from other winning hands based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand; receiving a signal at said data processor from the player controller representing a game wager from said player; said data processor dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected by said data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said composite deck stored at said data storage; displaying at least one of the value, rank, and subdeck identifier for at least one of said playing cards of said initial hand at said display; forming a final player hand for each player; said data processor comparing each player's final hand to said payoff table stored at said data storage, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and said data processor rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said step of forming a final player hand comprises: receiving at said data processor a signal from said player controller representing said player's selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said player's initial hand; and said data processor dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards selected randomly by said data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards such that said final hand consists of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards. 